I. spoil 1 S3 /spɔɪl/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle spoiled or spoilt /spɔɪlt/ British English )
[ Word Family: noun : spoils, ↑ spoil , ↑ spoiler ; verb : ↑ spoil ; adjective : SPOILT/SPOILED ≠ UNSPOILT/UNSPOILED ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: espoillier , from Latin spoliare 'to strip, rob' , from spolium ; SPOILS ]
1 . DAMAGE [transitive] to have a bad effect on something so that it is no longer attractive, enjoyable, useful etc SYN ruin :
The whole park is spoiled by litter.
We didn’t let the incident spoil our day.
I don’t want to spoil your fun.
Why do you always have to spoil everything?
⇨ spoil/ruin your appetite at ↑ appetite (1)
2 . TREAT TOO KINDLY [transitive] to give a child everything they want, or let them do whatever they want, often with the result that they behave badly:
She’s an only child, but they didn’t really spoil her.
His mother and sisters spoil him rotten (=spoil him very much) .
3 . TREAT KINDLY [transitive] to look after someone in a way that is very kind or too kind:
You’ll have to let me spoil you on your birthday.
spoil yourself
Go on, spoil yourself. Have another piece of cake.
4 . DECAY [intransitive] to start to decay:
Food will spoil if the temperature in your freezer rises above 8°C.
5 . VOTING [transitive] British English to mark a ↑ ballot paper wrongly so that your vote is not included
6 . be spoiling for a fight/argument to be very eager to fight or argue with someone
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THESAURUS
▪ spoil to have a bad effect on something so that it is much less attractive, enjoyable etc:
New housing developments are spoiling the countryside.
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The bad weather completely spoiled our holiday.
▪ ruin to spoil something completely and permanently:
Using harsh soap to wash your face can ruin your skin.
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The argument ruined the evening for me.
▪ mar written to spoil something by making it less attractive or enjoyable:
His handsome Arab features were marred by a long scar across his face.
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Outbreaks of fighting marred the New Year celebrations.
▪ detract from something to slightly spoil something that is generally very good, beautiful, or impressive:
The huge number of tourists rather detracts from the city’s appeal.
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There were a few minor irritations, but this did not detract from our enjoyment of the holiday.
▪ undermine to spoil something that you have been trying to achieve:
The bombings undermined several months of careful negotiations.
▪ sour to spoil a friendly relationship between people or countries:
The affair has soured relations between the UK and Russia.
▪ poison to spoil a close relationship completely, so that people can no longer trust each other:
Their marriage was poisoned by a terrible dark secret.
▪ mess something up informal to spoil something important or something that has been carefully planned:
If there’s any delay, it will mess up our whole schedule.
II. spoil 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : spoils, ↑ spoil , ↑ spoiler ; verb : ↑ spoil ; adjective : SPOILT/SPOILED ≠ UNSPOILT/UNSPOILED ]
1 . spoils [plural] formal
a) the things that someone gets by being successful:
They tried to take more than a fair share of the spoils.
b) things taken by an army from a defeated enemy, or things taken by thieves
the spoils of war/victory etc
2 . [uncountable] waste material such as earth and stones from a mine or hole in the ground:
spoil heaps